CASPER
New member
BOGOTA – Colombia's defense minister resigned on Monday, saying he will launch a presidential bid if current President Alvaro Uribe decides not to seek a third term.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who has received credit for some of the military's biggest successes against leftist rebels, said he is stepping down on May 23 after nearly three years in the post.
Colombian law says public officials have to step down a year ahead of the May 2010 election in order to seek the presidency.
Santos said he will support Uribe if the president runs for a third term, but if Uribe isn't on the ballot, Santos said, "I will be a candidate."
Uribe has not said publicly whether he will seek a third term, something that would require a constitutional change. Uribe was re-elected to a second term in 2006.
Colombia's senate on Tuesday plans to consider whether to schedule a referendum that could eliminate the ban on a third term.
No replacement was immediately named for Santos, during whose tenure the military achieved major blows against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Those included a raid on a rebel camp that killed guerrilla commander Raul Reyes and the military's stunning rescue of three U.S. military contractors and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt who had been held captive by the FARC.
Santos says the FARC has been reduced to fewer than 8,000 fighters, less than half its strength when Uribe first took office in 2002.
Uribe, a U.S.-backed conservative, has maintained high popularity for reclaiming large swaths of the cocaine-producing country from the rebels.
Santos' military also has faced controversy over the alleged Army killings of more than 1,600 civilians, some of whom were falsely labeled as rebels to boost body counts.
Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos, who has received credit for some of the military's biggest successes against leftist rebels, said he is stepping down on May 23 after nearly three years in the post.
Colombian law says public officials have to step down a year ahead of the May 2010 election in order to seek the presidency.
Santos said he will support Uribe if the president runs for a third term, but if Uribe isn't on the ballot, Santos said, "I will be a candidate."
Uribe has not said publicly whether he will seek a third term, something that would require a constitutional change. Uribe was re-elected to a second term in 2006.
Colombia's senate on Tuesday plans to consider whether to schedule a referendum that could eliminate the ban on a third term.
No replacement was immediately named for Santos, during whose tenure the military achieved major blows against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Those included a raid on a rebel camp that killed guerrilla commander Raul Reyes and the military's stunning rescue of three U.S. military contractors and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt who had been held captive by the FARC.
Santos says the FARC has been reduced to fewer than 8,000 fighters, less than half its strength when Uribe first took office in 2002.
Uribe, a U.S.-backed conservative, has maintained high popularity for reclaiming large swaths of the cocaine-producing country from the rebels.
Santos' military also has faced controversy over the alleged Army killings of more than 1,600 civilians, some of whom were falsely labeled as rebels to boost body counts.